World Domination

A series on the Judges of Israel
 – Deborah from the tribe of Ephraim
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 4-5 

[The book of Judges is a roller coaster ride. It’s about the history of Israel following their entry into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, Israel went through cycles of rejecting God and then repenting. Each time, the Lord saved them by raising up a leader who was called a judge. In this series, we will be looking at some of these judges to learn about God’s character as well as our own.]

  

Risk is a board game where winning means world domination. It requires strategic alliances and risky cutthroat moves. The board is a political map of the world that is divided into 42 territories across six continents.

 

Each player starts out with the same number of playing pieces (their army) which they strategically place on the board. From there, you try to capture other territories from your opponents. The goal is to conquer and eliminate all the other players. But in order to win, you have to take risks!

 

In the opening verses of Judges 4, we see Israel's cycle repeating itself. Israel turned from the Lord; the Lord gave them over to Jabin, a Canaanite king who oppressed them for twenty years; Israel cried out to the Lord for help; the Lord sent a judge to deliver them.

 

Deborah was not only the Lord’s judge who led Israel, but also a prophet who settled the disputes of the people. One day, possibly after the people asked her what could be done about Sisera, she sent for Barak with this word from the Lord.

 

^6b “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to Mount Tabor. ⁷ I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”                    NIV

 

Even though the Lord promised to give Barak victory over Sisera, he wouldn’t do it unless Deborah came with him. He wouldn’t take the risk. Deborah complied with his demand, but prophesied that a woman would defeat Sisera, not Barak.

 

In the meantime, a spy informed Sisera of Barak’s plans to take his army to Mount Tabor. With this information, Sisera gathered his 900 iron chariots and all his warriors at the Kishon River. With the Jezreel Valley spreading out between the two armies, the stage was set for an epic battle.

 

Chariots were the tanks of the ancient world. So even though Barak had ten thousand fighting men, the Israelites were outmanned. Despite this, upon Deborah’s command, Barak and his army charged Sisera and his chariots, soundly defeating them. How did the Israelites overcome their superior weaponry?

 

God had provided a downpour that caused the Kishon River to overflow its banks making Sisera’s chariots useless in the mud. And when Sisera fled the battlefield and tried hiding in the tent of Jael, the wife of the spy, she killed him by hammering a tent peg through his temple.

 

We may not be in a fight against flesh and blood where we’re overpowered by their weaponry. But we do fight with an even more dangerous enemy. Paul described it as “mighty powers in this dark world”. And Peter gave this warning.

 

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.        NIV

 

Like the game of Risk, the battles we face in life also have great risks, but the rewards are much greater. It’s not for world domination, but for eternal life.

 

Copyright 2024 Joseph B Williams

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The Strong Silent Type

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 4:1-9

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

When I was growing up, TV shows and movies were filled with the strong silent type. Men like John Wayne, Randolph Scott and Gary Cooper. These men were unflappable, unafraid and undeniable. Nothing could stand in their way.

 

The ancient Middle Eastern culture was similar to this. Men, who were the strong silent type, were the norm. Among them was Moses, who led Israel to the brink of entering the Promised Land, and Joshua, who finished the job.

 

But Israel was not just to inhabit the Promised Land, they were to conquer it. You see, the Promised Land belonged to someone else. People who had their own history, culture, customs and gods that they worshiped. And, they weren’t ready to give all those things up; not without a fight!

 

And when the people of Israel lived among those who they were supposed to have conquered, they adopted their customs and culture. They intermarried and worshipped their gods. In short, they turned their backs on the God of their Fathers. In order to lead them back to Him, the Lord sent judges.

 

This is the context and the culture when Deborah became the judge, leader and prophet of Israel. It was her job to lead the people back to the Lord. But what would it take for a woman to break through a cultural wall like this? To step into the world of the “strong silent type”, and rule with authority?

 

⁴ Now Deborah, a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. ⁵ She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided.         NIV

 

The name Deborah means “bee”; like a honey bee. According to my NIV study Bible, “Deborah dispensed the sweetness of justice as she held court, not in a city gate where male judges sat, but under the shade of a honey tree.”

 

Although she wasn’t a warrior, she called on Barak, whose name meant “thunderbolt”, to lead the battle against Sisera and the Canaanites. She even accompanied him into their victorious battle. This was a major step in defeating the Canaanites. As a result, Deborah brought peace to Israel.

 

³¹ “Lord, may all your enemies die like Sisera!
    But may those who love you rise like the sun in all its power!”

Then there was peace in the land for forty years.        NLT

 

The Lord works in unexpected ways. In a culture dominated by leaders of the strong silent male types, He chose Deborah. In a world filled with conflict and chaos, He didn’t choose a warrior, He chose Deborah. In a time when Israel had wandered from the Lord, He chose a woman to lead them back to Him.

The Lord takes ordinary people, and has them accomplish extraordinary, unexpected things. How is the Lord at work in your life in unexpected ways?

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams